Late three sinks St. Joseph’s women vs. Rhode Island, 58-55
Sophomore guard Sophie Phillips sank a three-pointer with 1.1 seconds to go to win it for the Rams.
St. Joseph’s once again lost a women’s basketball nail-biter to Rhode Island, 58-55, on Sunday at Hagan Arena. Sophomore guard Sophie Phillips hit a three with 1.1 seconds to go to win it for the Rams.
The Rams (22-4, 13-1, Atlantic 10) swept the Hawks (18-8, 8-6) in their season series.
“I’m really proud of the way our kids came out today,” St. Joe’s coach Cindy Griffin said. “We played really, really, really good basketball for about 35 minutes.”
Statistical leaders
St. Joe’s has now lost by six points or fewer in all six of the team’s A-10 defeats.
Junior guard Dolly Cairns led Rhode Island with 12 points and Sayawni Lassiter added 11.
Freshman forward Laura Ziegler notched a double-double for the Hawks with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore forward Talya Brugler and sophomore guard Mackenzie Smith each added 11 points. The Hawks shot 35.5% from the field, while Rhode Island shot 36.8%.
What we saw
The Hawks started the game with energy, jumping out to a 16-4 lead in the opening 5 minutes, 32 seconds. During their hot start, St. Joe’s made 6 of 10 shots, including 4 of 6 from three-point range.
Rhode Island shot just 3 of 11 from the field in the opening quarter and the Rams trailed by 18-8 after 10 minutes.
The script flipped in the second quarter, however, as St. Joe’s was outscored 17-7 and shot just 3-for-18 in the period. Following an 11-0 Rhode Island run in the final 4:06 of the quarter, the Hawks and the Rams were even at 25 headed into the break.
Ziegler notched a first-half double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
After three quarters, Rhode Island led, 41-40. Momentum swung back in favor of the Hawks in the fourth quarter after back-to-back threes from Zeigler and Brugler gave them a 50-47 lead.
With the score tied at 51 with 56.6 seconds to go, Brugler found Smith under the basket for a go-ahead score. Junior Emma Boslet then came up with a key steal for the Hawks, but graduate guard Katie Jekot had a turnover to give the ball back to the Rams, allowing them to tie it with two free throws by Lassiter.
That set up the big shot by Phillips with 1.1 seconds left. A three-point shot by Smith was off the mark for the Hawks.
Game-changing stat
The difference in the game proved to be the opportunities from the free-throw line. Rhode Island had 16 free-throw attempts, making 10. St. Joe’s had just four and made two. The Hawks were also outrebounded by 20-10.
Up next
St. Joe’s visits George Mason at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.